Roommates
by demigodsforlife
Summary: Annabeth Chase wants to construct buildings. Percy Jackson wants to play with dolphins. Two totally different people stuck in the same room for the entire academic year. The results are-most likely-not going to be pretty. [College AU. All human.]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey all, I'm back with a new story (oh no not again!). But seriously I want to try to get to the end of this…even though I've said this a gazillion times on my other stories and never actually have done it. I think I have a good idea for this one, so bear with me. Hopefully we can get through this…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO. Rick Riordan does. **

**Roommates – 1**

Annabeth Chase is not the type of girl you'd expect to be standing at the doors of New University. Firstly, the name New is particularly pathetic considering that the university has been open and running for practically seventy years, which—though it wasn't even close to as old as Harvard—felt too old for the word 'new.' Annabeth Chase is not one to be pathetic. Secondly, New University wasn't even ranked in the top five universities; it was ranked a whopping seventh in the nation—definitely below Annabeth's standards. Lastly, it was a requirement for all alumni (limited to about only five thousand students) to 'bunk' with, or more precisely _share_ _a room _with a roommate of _either gender_. Not that Annabeth wasn't one to attract those of the opposite gender, she just didn't see the purpose of 'drooling' and wasting her time over boys like those hormonal teenage girls she had been surrounded with all her life always seemed to do.

Why did Annabeth feel the necessity to go to New University, then? Simply because it was the school her mother had went to. She just felt that maybe, by going to the same school, she would feel more connected to her than she was now. Maybe, just maybe, she could get closer to who her mother was and live up to her standard.

After all, Annabeth Chase's life was focused on making her mother proud. Ever since Athena Chase had divorced Fredrick Chase, Annabeth just couldn't seem to reach her mother. The only time her mother would ever notice her was when she won some academic award or got praise from her teachers, amazed at what an excellent student she was. Her father was always proud of her, no matter what she did. He always gave her attention when she wanted, but it was her mother who didn't have the time of day for her. So Annabeth always challenged herself to try to get her mother's attention. The good grades, the amazing academic and athletic record, the multiple science and math trophies sitting in her room at home—they were all for her mother's attention.

New University was just another tactic for Annabeth's never-ending challenge.

She adjusted her neatly pressed skirt and blouse, took a deep breath, and opened the entrance doors, dragging her luggage behind her. Most of her other belongings had already been placed in her room prior to her arrival. An older boy was manning the front desk, absently twirling a white lanyard in circles. When he spotted Annabeth he slipped the lanyard in his back pocket and fixed his stance, standing straighter and taller.

"Hey, I'm Luke Castellan, junior, how may I help you?" He let his blue eyes fall on her grey ones, smirking somewhat mischievously. She took in his height and the scar above his eyebrow, as well as the slight upward lilt of his mouth. He cleared his throat, snapping her out of the trance she was in.

Annabeth felt her heart start to race, not sure if it was because of him, or her being nervous. "Oh, sorry, I was wondering what my room number was?" she sounded more breathless than she intended.

Luke smirked again, this time more knowingly. "Are you a freshman?"

"Yes, so what?" she replied hastily and somewhat gruffly. She really just wanted to get to her room and prepare for all of her classes and such. She didn't have time to chat with this agonizingly slow, yet attractive stranger.

"Oh, nothing. Name please?" he asked professionally.

"Annabeth Chase," she responded quickly.

Luke skimmed down a list, eventually locating her name and room number. "Ah, Annabeth Chase, room 555 on level 5. That's not a hard one to remember," he said as he continued to smirk (seriously, how can someone smirk _that much_?). He turned behind him to and searched through some drawers until he pulled out a pair of keys. She took them.

"One's for you and the other for your roommate. Just give it to them when they arrive," Luke explained.

"Okay, thanks for your help."

"Yeah, no problem. Pleasure meeting you, Annabeth," he said, _still _smirking.

"Same," she said, before leaving to find the elevator.

She found one not far away, opening as another girl was getting in. She looked to be a little older than her, and had that punk-rock girl thing going on with all the leather and multiple ear piercings. They both got in the elevator, Annabeth awkwardly with her luggage in tow. The girl hit button number five, then looked to Annabeth, who just smiled and said, "Me too."

"What room?" the girl asked.

"555, you?"

"556. That's crazy. I'm Thalia by the way." Thalia stuck out her hand.

"Annabeth."

"Cool. You know who your roommate is yet?"

"Not a clue."

The elevator dinged and the door opened, revealing level 5. They walked together to their rooms down the vacant aisles. Right before Thalia left to her room she laughed and said, "Just hope you don't get someone sucky, or freshman year is going to be horrible for you."

Annabeth took that into account. "I'll hope." Then they parted ways as unlikely friends. Annabeth felt she was off to a pretty good start.

She stepped into the room, which for the most part was huge. It was like a miniature house stuffed into a room. There was a tiny kitchen connected to a living room, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a bedroom with a bunk-bed and a desk. The room was painted a beautiful ocean blue. Annabeth started to get why the fees for staying at this school surpassed those of Harvard's. She began to organize her stuff, placing her clothes and supplies in drawers and making the bottom bed with her favorite comforter covered in silver owls.

After she finished settling in, there was a loud knock at the door. "Hello? Can somebody open this door?" said a voice.

"I'll be right there!" She called back. She walked up to the door, opening it slowly.

In front of her stood a boy looking to be about her age, with raven black hair and the greenest eyes she had ever seen. He holds a bag above his head and another in his arms, looking slightly off balance. He smiles and says, "Hey." But that's about all she gets to see.

Because next thing she knows the bag over his head comes slipping down from his hands and crashes with a _thunk!_ on her head.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Back with the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO. Rick Riordan does.**

**Roommates – 2**

You can probably imagine the horror Percy Jackson felt when he managed to knock his roommate—for the rest of the academic year—out cold in a matter of five seconds. He was pretty sure he was the only person who could manage to achieve such a thing (involuntarily of course!). This was just his dumb luck. He hoped that this girl would forgive him, or his whole freshman year at New University would be hell for sure.

After moping over his uncontrollable clumsiness, he dropped his bags off in the bedroom, taking in how organized it was.

Scratch that, his year was _already_ going to be hell.

He could just tell that this was one of those academic-based students, the ones who did nothing but study, study, and study more. This girl was definitely that type, he could just feel it emanating from the way the room was set. His mind was already going to explode from the idea of it. What if she was one of those girls who actually made her bed, did her laundry, or worst of all _the dishes_? What if she made _him _do the dishes?

As these traumatic thoughts rushed through Percy's head, the girl on the floor groaned. _Oh right. He probably should do something about that. _

He picked her up with ease (she was fairly light) and placed her on the bed covered in owl print. He bet the owl print was some type of superstition that gave the girl her smart powers and stuff. The _horror. _

It was now, approximately five minutes later, that he actually got to look at his roommate. She was an average height, with that California-esque look. Her skin was a nice shade of tan and—from what he observed when he picked her up—smooth. Her hair fell perfectly in princess curls and went past her shoulders. In conclusion, she was _very _pretty. Percy ran his hand over his mouth casually, just to make sure he wasn't drooling.

So _of course_, Percy's roommate had to be a very pretty and organized girl who was extremely smart (from the looks of it). And as Percy's first impression, he had dropped a very large—and albeit, heavy—bag onto her head. _Just great. _He really hoped she wouldn't hate him for the rest of the year, 'cause that would kind of suck. A lot.

From the looks of it, though, she would probably hate him anyway because there was no way they could be more different. How did they _decide _this roommate system anyways?! At this point, Percy was seriously thinking about getting a room change. There was no way he was going to survive his first year of university with a, with a…smart person! It practically spelled disaster.

As Percy continued to fret over the horribleness that which is his life, he heard a loud knock at the door. Quickly, he glanced at the unconscious girl lying on her bed, just to make sure this wasn't just some stupid prank that he had fallen for. He seriously was hoping the girl would jump up, laugh, and say, "happy first day of being roommates, HAHAHA!" even though he was pretty sure that roommates didn't do that type of thing. At this point, he hoped for anything.

Of course, after a few seconds, nothing happened, and the girl still remained on her bed. Percy gave up and decided to answer the knocking at the door, making sure he wasn't carrying anything heavy that he could possibly drop on one of the other students attending NU.

He opened the door and was met face to face with a red Rasta cap. Literally. He looked down to see his best friend since the sixth grade, Grover Underwood, chewing a plastic fork. Grover had this weird tendency to chew random trash that you usually saw goats eating. It didn't really bother Percy unless it happened to choke Grover and then Percy would have to do the Heimlich on him. Thankfully that had only happened once.

"Hey G-man! Sups?" Percy asked.

"I was waiting for my roommate to show up, but it's been like two hours and they still haven't shown up. What if I get someone terrible?! Like Clarisse?!" He shuddered at the thought.

Clarisse was a bully that had been bothering Percy and Grover for years on end. Mainly because once they had drenched her with toilet water (long story short, it was an accident!) and she was the laughingstock for approximately a week. Whatever they did, they just couldn't avoid her. Somehow she was always where they were, beating the crap out of them whenever she got the chance. Rumor was she got accepted into NU, and Grover and I have been on her toes ever since.

"Don't worry dude, there is only a little chance that you'll get Clarisse as a roommate. I wouldn't worry about it too much," I said in attempt to be reassuring, but by the look on Grover's face, I could tell I wasn't doing a very good job.

He nodded half-heartedly. "Speaking of roommates, who is yours?" He peered through the opening of the door in an attempt to see.

Percy blocked the view. He didn't want Grover to know that he had knocked out his roommate. That would just add to the embarrassment of the whole thing. Instead he replied, "She's kind of asleep. I don't think we should bother her…"

Grover agreed and we decided to just chill and hang out around the building. School technically didn't start until Monday, which was two days away.

Annabeth woke up in her bed with a slight throbbing on the upper left part of her head. She couldn't quite remember when she had gotten into bed. She groaned and sat up, then went to the bathroom to wash her face.

In the bathroom, she took a handful of water and rubbed it over her face. When she rubbed it over the top part of her face, she felt a bump. What? When had she gotten a bump? Startled, she looked in the mirror.

Only to find a huge, disgustingly purple bump on the left side of her forehead.

She screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's been a while…oops. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO. Rick Riordan does.**

**Roommates – 3 **

Annabeth had felt she was prepared for her year at the NU the moment she had stepped into the building's prestigious walls. She had felt she prepared before she even boarded the plane to get there. She'd felt prepared ever since she was born to get to the NU. But now—now!—she had this horrible bruise on the upper part of her head, for all to see, and she felt nothing but unprepared. She felt lost, disgruntled, horrified, and stunned.

It's not that Annabeth cared a whole ton about her appearance, the most makeup she had was a bit of lip gloss here and some mascara there. She wasn't the frilly, flowery girl most blondes were stereotyped to be. There was one thing Annabeth did care a large sum for: her pride. This included what others thought of her and how they viewed her. Having a disgusting bulge of damaged skin on your head is not the best first impression. It says clumsy, tragic, and unorganized. Everything Annabeth didn't want to be.

What did she do to deserve this?

She stomped angrily and threw herself onto her bed, stuffing a pillow into her face as she screamed in frustration.

Just imagining the thought of her first day of school caused shivers to head down her spine. In two days, she would have to walk the halls, with…with _that_ on her forehead. She'd be teased and taunted. People would call her 'humpty-bumpty' or 'egghead.' Teachers would take her as pathetic and inept. Her whole year at NU was officially ruined.

When she finally started to calm down and think logically, she began to ponder how in the world this bump had appeared on her head. She knew it couldn't be a bug bite; it was too big for that. There was a slight flash of memory of something heavy being dropped onto her head, but she couldn't quite remember how that happened.

The door creaked open slightly, and a boy with ravenous black hair stepped in. She felt she recognized this person from somewhere, but still couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Their eyes locked—her steely grey ones on his ocean green ones. An awkward silence ensued, with them just awkwardly staring at each other.

Annabeth took this time to size him up. He was on the lean side, with pointed and small features. His hair was unkempt, and his shirt wrinkled. Obviously he was the careless and laid-back type. She guessed he could be cute, but he was definitely not her type.

"What happened to your head?" he asked inquisitively. His face contorted into one of confusion and slight disgust.

Suddenly, it all came back to Annabeth. He was the one who she had opened the door for! He had dropped a heavy bag on her head. _He _was the cause for her suffering. And now, _he _was asking her what had happened to her head. As if he didn't know!

She immediately became furious. If she were a cartoon character, her eyes would have boggled out of her head and steam would have spurted out of her ears. How dare he mock her in such a way? How insensitive could a person be?!

"Are you seriously kidding me?" she asked calmly (or, as calmly as she could). Inside, she was bubbling similar to the way a volcano does before it explodes and all that molten lava sprays out. She hoped somehow her imaginary lava could burn the skin off of this evil boy who had irritated her.

He looked at her like he was a deer wearing headlights or something—whatever that phrase was, Annabeth couldn't remember with all her fury. "What did _I _do?" he said, as if he didn't know.

Annabeth is not one to be messed with. So naturally, since this boy provoked her, she burst on him. "What do you mean?! You dropped your stupid heavy bag on my head, and now you're asking me what you did? You think you can just mess with me and laugh at my stupidity or something? Do you have a nice bone in your body? You're freaking cruel!"

She punched him in the stomach and flipped him onto the ground.

He was caught off guard but responded. "I didn't see any bump after you fell down…"

"Oh my gods! Do you not know that bruises swell if not treated?!" she face palmed at this boy's stupidity.

He blinked. "Oh. Uh…"

"You know what, never mind. Forget it. Just get out and send for my roommate. You brought their bags up right?"

"Oh yeah, your roommate. Well you see-"

"I hope that my roommate isn't as stupid as you. Ugh. Hopefully they actually have some sense and know some first aid."

"Uhm, well…" he said, feeling a bit hurt by her words.

"Do you understand English?! My roommate should be here by now, can you please call them up?" She looked him the eyes, her grey orbs all stormy and scary.

"Actually…uhm. I'm your roommate," he said somewhat ashamedly.

The girl stared at him in shock for a few moments. "No. No no no no no no! _You _cannot be my roommate. There has to be some mistake! There is no way this is going to work!" she said in despair.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything. I didn't know…I mean, I didn't…ugh, I'm just so clumsy and-" Annabeth interrupted him.

"Just leave me alone. Please."

He nodded sorrowfully and left the room, closing it shut softly behind him.

Seconds later, someone knocked loudly on the door. Annabeth reluctantly went to get the door, still calming down from her explosion.

She opened the door to find Thalia, the girl she had met earlier.

"Hey, I heard some screaming from your room. You okay?" she asked in a concerned tone. She looked at Annabeth and then coughed in surprise. "Uh, forget I even asked. Let's get some ice for that."

The two girls got some ice as Annabeth explained what had happened to Thalia. Thalia, for the most part, was comforting, but sometimes she would laugh at the stupidity of the whole catastrophe. As Annabeth relayed the story, she started to realize that maybe she had overreacted. That didn't stop her from being mad at her roommate (who she still didn't know the name of).

After cleaning up the bruise, Thalia asked Annabeth about the infamous roommate. As Annabeth explained and described in detail, a look of recognition appeared on Thalia's face.

"That sounds a lot like my cousin, Percy Jackson. Green eyes and unruly black hair, you say?"

Annabeth nodded assuredly. "That's the one." She sniffed in exasperation. "Why is he so ignorant? Ugh."

Thalia smirked. "He's kind of on the clutzy side, but he really is a good kid. He has a kind of tendency of doing these types of things. He really isn't _that _bad."

Annabeth just rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Thalia just laughed. "We'll see. You _do _have to spend a whole school year with him, so you'll be getting to know a lot about each other."

Annabeth sighed in despair. "Don't remind me."

After they talked for a little while more, Thalia left Annabeth alone to go to bed. Time had passed so quickly because of the whole fiasco. Annabeth returned to her usual routine. She changed into her owl pajamas and brushed her teeth and hair, before picking up a book to read.

As her eyes began to start drooping, someone knocked on the door. Annabeth groaned and opened the door.

In front of her stood the little jerk himself. Percy Jackson.

"I'm really sorry about what happened and-"

"Save it. I'm going to bed and here are your keys for the room, so you don't have to knock and bother me anymore. Goodnight." With that, Annabeth left to go sleep on her bed, turning her face to the wall so she wouldn't have to talk or see the stupid nuisance.

Percy felt really bad, but didn't know what to do. It's not like he could make the bump disappear or something. He'd tried apologizing but this girl just wouldn't let him.

He unpacked his bags, munching on the blue cookies his mom had baked him before he left. While he was doing so, he continued to ponder what he could do to make it up to his roommate. Nothing came to him. Eventually he finished unpacking and sat on the couch to watch tv. Spongebob was on. He felt his eyes drooping, and finally drifted off into a sleep filled with nightmares of murderous owls with steely gray eyes.


End file.
